Accompanied with great advantages in various fields of performance, memristors show huge potential in the next generation of mainstream storage devices. However, their random distribution of resistance switching voltage has always been one of the problems in applications. In this work, a nonvolatile resistive switching memory device was proposed, which employed CdSe/CdS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) assembled as an electrode modification layer with the device configuration of Pt/CdSe–CdS QDs/TaO x /Ta. The device possesses multiple excellent resistance switching characteristics such as lower and more consistent set/reset threshold voltage and better endurance performance, which is considered as the effect of the electrode modification layer based CdSe/CdS core/shell QDs. A model with an uneven QD/Pt electrode interface was put forward to explain the different resistance switching behaviors, which may be beneficial to the development of the existing research about memristors based on metal oxides and QDs.

The magnesium transporter 1 (MAGT1) is a critical regulator of basal intracellular free magnesium ([Mg2+]i) levels. It has been shown that MAGT1 was involved in the disorder in Mg2+ homeostasis after Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Here, we identified the effects of MAGT1-mediated disturbance of Mg2+ homeostasis on chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected natural killer (NK) and CD8+ T cells. The expression of MAGT1 was gradually decreased with the increase of infected time in CD8+ T cells, but not with that in NK cells, of the patients. Decreased level of intracellular free Mg2+ ([Mg2+]i) leads to defective expression of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and the NK activating receptor (NKG2D) in NK and CD8+ T cells. Our data illustrate that [Mg2+]i plays a key role in control of HBV infection.

The fast development of high-accuracy neuromorphic computing requires stable analog memristors. While filamentary memory switching is very common in binary oxides, their resistive switching usually involves abrupt changes due to the rupture or reformation of metallic filaments. In this work, we designed a memristor consisting of dual-layer HfOy/HfOx, with different concentrations of oxygen vacancies (y > x). During the electroforming process, both the migration of existing oxygen vacancies in HfOx and the generation of new oxygen vacancies in HfOy occur simultaneously, leaving a semiconducting part close to the HfOy/HfOx interface. The resulting filament is not metallic as a whole, as revealed by first principles calculations. Such a device demonstrates excellent switching uniformity as well as highly gradual resistance change, ideal for neuromorphic computing. Through fine tuning of the filament structure, the device achieves low variation, high speed, gradual SET and RESET processes, and hundreds of stable multi-level state behaviors. The long-term synaptic plasticity was further achieved, showing good linearity and large analog switching window (ΔG as high as 487.5 μS). This works affords a route toward a gradual resistance change in oxide-based memristors.